Served ‘poisonous’ food in jail, Ansari tells UP court

Barabanki (UP), March 21

Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari on Thursday told a court in Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh that his health had deteriorated after he was served food allegedly laced with poison inside the prison.

Citing ill health, he did not appear in the district MP/MLA court in connection with a case of alleged fraud in the registration of an ambulance used to ferry him from jail to a court in Punjab a few years ago.

In an application filed through his lawyer Randhir Singh Suman, he said, “On the night of March 19, my food was laced with poisonous substance, following which my health has deteriorated…. I feel like I’m going to choke.” The lawyer said Ansari’s health was “completely fine” before this incident and, therefore, he had requested the court to form a team of doctors for his proper treatment.

Ansari alleged he was also given food laced with poison 40 days ago.